Norwich University

U

USMC 2012

5-Year Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2010
Messages
18
Hey. I have a few more questions/ comments concerning Norwich University, so this might some what of a long post. Are there any cadets (past or present) that have attended Norwich University, or that are attending now? If so, could you explain your experience as a Norwich cadet if you wouldn't mind? From the research I've done, Norwich seems like a great college. So far, I am very impressed with the disciplined asmosphere they portray at their school. However, that is only from looking at the website, reading about them, and watching videos about the programs Norwich offers, never acually visiting the school itself (though I will be doing so soon).
I have heard that some people say that Norwich is a second rate college (quite frankly, I disagree with them), but I still need to take that into account when looking around at colleges. I have also heard others that say it is a great college and that the cadets are very focused on what they do. I know there are many traditions at Norwich and would love to hear about them.
I really would love to have a career in the military. I guess my biggest question is: Will Norwich prepare me for a future in the military, through its academics and a disiplined, well rounded, military program? In essence, years after graduation, I want to be able to say: "Wow, Norwich University prepared me take on a job in the military, and taught me to embrace the warrior ethos that I now live by, as well as gave me the tools I need, to be a smart, well educated, 2nd Lieutenant." Could Norwich do that for me. Have your experiences at Norwich taught you those things?
I love the military atmosphere as well, the yelling "yes sir!" and "no sir!", the drilling and the marching, and the comaraderie. Do you think Norwich could offer that to me as well? I want to have a good experience, but at the same time, a disiplined, drilled, and well thought out plan for my future as a military officer. I know I, (along with the guidence of God), are making the disicion of whether or not I go to Norwich, but I would really appreciate any responses. Thank you very much for your time. (I hope I didn't ask to many questions.)

-USMC 2012
 
USMC 2012 said:
I guess my biggest question is: Will Norwich prepare me for a future in the military, through its academics and a disiplined, well rounded, military program?
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Norwich will absolutely prepare you for a future in the military, as will any SMC or SA. ROTC, too, will prepare you for that.

I am a Norwich grad and owe my entire career to Norwich. When I was an Infantry platoon leader, my two roommates were respectively from West Point and ROTC (Univ. of Arkansas). Both were very effective platoon leaders as well, and it just underscored for me that all three routes -- SA, SMC, ROTC -- produce quality officers for the military.

At Norwich, you live military 24/7, and it is a "plebe system" school, so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to practice "Yes, Sir!" and "Yes, Ma'am!" The Drill Team has been ranked No. 1 in the country for several years, and it has a mountain rescue team in which many cadets participate. Traditionally, Norwich has been Army Cavalry/Armor, but that has changed over the past 25 years to include all branches of service.

As I said, I owe my leadership skills, time management, and everything else to my experience at Norwich. That said, though, I expect that if I had attended VMI or the Citadel, I would be saying precisely same thing about those schools. The common experience of the SMC is much bigger than an individual school.

The one thing that I recall from my experience at ROTC camp in Fort Bragg, NC was that the cadets from the SMCs on the East Coast (Norwich, VMI, Citadel, North Georgia, VT) tended to hang out together because they had similar experiences.

When I was in high school, I had a much less sophistocated approach to college selection. In fact, when I made my decision to attend Norwich many years ago, it basically came down to skiing. There were far more skiing opportunities in Vermont than in South Carolina, so I packed the car and headed to Vermont.

My advice to those looking at SMCs is go with the school that seems to want you more (in terms of scholarships offered, etc.).
 
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Thank you first of all for your service to this country, and thank you second of all for the quick reply.

- USMC 2012
 
USMC 2012 said:
I have heard that some people say that Norwich is a second rate college I have also heard others that say it is a great college
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If you want to look at some unbiased data... LINK
Norwich is the second most selective of all the SMC's, but lowest SAT's also.
Sounds tough, Norwich has the highest freshman dropout of the SMC's

Advantages of Norwich (as a Senior Military Colleges (SMC)):

-Unlike ROTC at other schools, All cadets at the Senior Military Colleges are guaranteed active duty commissions when they graduate:

-Cadets at an SMC are authorized to take the ROTC program all four years, but taking a commission upon graduation is optional, unlike other colleges where ROTC cadets are required to sign a contract to take commission before entering their final two years.

-Unlike ROTC at other schools, the Department of Defense is prohibited from closing or reducing the ROTC programs at an SMC.
 
Norwich Always Try

Norwich has been great for my son. Join things, participate, make friends. That makes any place a pleasure to be at. Understand if you want something in the militiary or anywhere else, speak up. There are many opportunites to get training and experiences. Always ask to be part, never expect to be asked. During the rook time understand that the guy or girl next to you is in the same situation as you. Use that restricited time to build your grades. Norwich will get a lot easier after the first semestor especially if you have good grades. Get in your best possible shape before you come. Best of luck to you.
 
I have a somewhat different prospective about Norwich. I am a 1981 graduate and feel that I received an excellent education while also learning valuable leadership skills. When I was there we had very few civilians on campus and all were woman. I understand that that has changed, but I also understand that the corps of cadets functions much as it did in the past. My perspective is somewhat different for two reasons. First, I elected to not go into the military. Many of my classmates did go active and were quite successful. I on the other hand was able to take the discipline and training from Norwich and mold that into a decent business career. The lessons that you learn about dealing with people at Norwich or any other structured military school (private or academy) will give you a head start with whatever you decided to do. The second reason that my prospective is somewhat different is that I also have a son that is a 4th year midshipman at Kings Point. I have had the opportunity to relive the adventure of a military school a second time, but this time without doing the push-ups! I cannot speak for the other academies, but the regimental aspects of Norwich and Kings Point seem to be about the same. The academics at Kings Point are much more intense due to the compressed schedule of cramming four years of college into three years.

The bottom line is that Norwich is a great institution with a sound reputation for turning out well educated strong leaders. Once you graduate you will find that you are well prepared whether you decide to go into the military or move into a civilian position.

If you have specific questions feel free to send me a PM and I will answer as best as I can.
 
USMC 2012 said:
Hey. I have a few more questions/ comments concerning Norwich University, so this might some what of a long post. Are there any cadets (past or present) that have attended Norwich University, or that are attending now? If so, could you explain your experience as a Norwich cadet if you wouldn't mind? From the research I've done, Norwich seems like a great college. So far, I am very impressed with the disciplined asmosphere they portray at their school. However, that is only from looking at the website, reading about them, and watching videos about the programs Norwich offers, never acually visiting the school itself (though I will be doing so soon).
I have heard that some people say that Norwich is a second rate college (quite frankly, I disagree with them), but I still need to take that into account when looking around at colleges. I have also heard others that say it is a great college and that the cadets are very focused on what they do. I know there are many traditions at Norwich and would love to hear about them.
I really would love to have a career in the military. I guess my biggest question is: Will Norwich prepare me for a future in the military, through its academics and a disiplined, well rounded, military program? In essence, years after graduation, I want to be able to say: "Wow, Norwich University prepared me take on a job in the military, and taught me to embrace the warrior ethos that I now live by, as well as gave me the tools I need, to be a smart, well educated, 2nd Lieutenant." Could Norwich do that for me. Have your experiences at Norwich taught you those things?
I love the military atmosphere as well, the yelling "yes sir!" and "no sir!", the drilling and the marching, and the camaraderie. Do you think Norwich could offer that to me as well? I want to have a good experience, but at the same time, a disiplined, drilled, and well thought out plan for my future as a military officer. I know I, (along with the guidence of God), are making the disicion of whether or not I go to Norwich, but I would really appreciate any responses. Thank you very much for your time. (I hope I didn't ask to many questions.)

-USMC 2012
Click to expand...

The rook system today will offer all the camaraderie you want, I am still very close to the 38 other rook buddies I went through rookie basic with, along with my candidate brothers and sister for Band. The ROTC departments here are very into training not only their future officers, but hold up the schools values of a citizen soldier for those who do not wish to commission into the military. You will defiantly get the training you want as long as you want the training. You will defiantly get out what you put into it, if you have any other questions feel free to PM me, I'll respond when I can, I'm usually on every other night or so.
 
Hey guys I got a quick question,

As a active duty soldier potentially looking at green-to-gold if I don't get in to USMA this year I have been looking at VMI and Norwich for a while. How would me being a three year scholarship cadet at a SMC work? Would I do all the Rookdom and Ratline stuff like everyone who is an academic freshman? A big reason I want to go to USMA or a SMC is for the 24/7 military environment. I don't really want to get off active duty and be thrown into a civilian college just to go back into the military and continue my career.
 
Stealth
Warrior from the Start

Join Date: May 2010
Location: Afghanistan
Posts: 35

Hey guys I got a quick question,

As a active duty soldier potentially looking at green-to-gold if I don't get in to USMA this year I have been looking at VMI and Norwich for a while. How would me being a three year scholarship cadet at a SMC work? Would I do all the Rookdom and Ratline stuff like everyone who is an academic freshman? A big reason I want to go to USMA or a SMC is for the 24/7 military environment. I don't really want to get off active duty and be thrown into a civilian college just to go back into the military and continue my career.
Click to expand...
At VMI - everyone is a Rat regardless of how much Academic Credit they start off with. As an alumnus you will always consider the class that you went thru your Rat year with as your class regardless of what year you actually graduated and that's the class whose Ring you will wear.
 
bruno said:
At VMI - everyone is a Rat regardless of how much Academic Credit they start off with. As an alumnus you will always consider the class that you went thru your Rat year with as your class regardless of what year you actually graduated and that's the class whose Ring you will wear.
Click to expand...

The same is true at Norwich. However, at Norwich, it used to be the case that prior enlisted were "recognized" a few months earlier than the rest of the rook class because of their prior military experience. So you get to experience the "joys" of being a rook, but you it stops mid-year or so. The other thing that was pretty cool is that you get to wear your ribbons on your cadet uniform, while the rest of the rooks have none. The hardest thing for you will be to not laugh when some 19-year-old, who hasn't experienced a day of combat in his or her life, is yelling in your ear.

Devil5891 would know if this is still the case.
 
Idk of any Prior Enlisted that got off early from Rookdom. I know of one that was told in private that the cadre respect him for going through basic and that they would expect them to help their rook buddies out cause they should know all this already, but they have to treat them like anyone else. I'm sure it will be annoying if next year comes around and I'm the one that has to scream at a prior enlistee, thankfully not going out for cadre.
 
Thanks for the info guys! That helps a lot. I know that VMI has an age limit of 22 at matriculation with a possible one year waiver for priors. Does Norwich or any other SMCs have the same age restrictions? That's my hold-up right now with USMA.

In any case I would see my position there exactly the way it was stated: a mentor and positive example for the younger cadets who are coming from outside of high school. Having some one younger than me and with less experience giving me orders and "yelling" is not an issue, they have to learn leadership skills just like we all have too right?
 
Stealth said:
Does Norwich or any other SMCs have the same age restrictions?
Click to expand...

Norwich does not have an age restriction for enrollment as a cadet. But I would contact MAJ Landrum to ensure that there are no Army restrictions for either ROTC scholarship or non-scholarship commissioning. His contact info can be found here: http://www.norwich.edu/cadets/armyrotc/staff.html

Tell MAJ Landrum that you are currently serving in Afghanistan and want to be an Army officer. That will definitely get his attention!! (It certainly got my attention). Other folks on SAF who are ROOs can tell you more about Army ROTC requirements as well.

Good luck with the basketball throw. Keep throwing that thing and don't let the age thing deter you (remember, nothing's final until you hear it directly from the mouth of President Obama himself).
 
23 for Norwich, idk when the added the rule but its in the rules and regs
 
Something's wrong with our system if a 24-yr-old kid -- yes, kid -- currently fighting in the sandbox can't become an officer through either an SA or SMC.
 
I have been talking to some of the guys at Norwich, they seem very supportive for having enlisted join! They even offer two 100% tuition scholarships for soldiers who go through the Green to Gold program. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with GtG scholarship and my GI bill benefits!
 
Stealth said:
I have been talking to some of the guys at Norwich, they seem very supportive for having enlisted join! They even offer two 100% tuition scholarships for soldiers who go through the Green to Gold program. It will be interesting to see how it plays out with GtG scholarship and my GI bill benefits!
Click to expand...

Good luck, Stealth!
 
Another Norwich prospect, eh? Awesome!

Norwich has been my number one for the past two years now, and, depending upon what happens with Cadet Command, the one I'll be committing to. I have several friends who go to Norwich, and they all say the same thing: It is NOT a second rate college; if anything, it's possibly better than the Ivies. Here's why:

1) A structured and disciplined environment--like a previous poster said, you live military 24/7 if you are in the Corps of Cadets.

2) Common purpose. Although Norwich encourages competition amongst its students, it also instills them with the sense that the only measure of success is how well the group does. Compare that to civilian colleges, where it's all about 'me, me, me!'

3) Opportunity: With a National Guard armory right on campus, the Army's Mountain Warfare course in Jericho, VT, and all the special Corps units, you get to experience aspects of the military that some ROTC programs don't have. In addition, the Corps is large enough for you to exercise and continue to develop leadership skills, should you choose to better both the Corps and yourself.

I'm not knocking the service academies or the other senior military colleges--they're all outstanding schools, both in terms of academics and leadership development. Norwich, however, has a long and proud history of turning civilians into leaders, no matter where they go in life.
 
CapeRunner:

Lets not get too excited... Norwich is a great school, but it does not rival any Ivy.
 
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